A month ago, Yoali Mejia Mosqueda was the WBO’s second-ranked flyweight. But that was before he beat Miguel Nieblas Avendano.
Avendano was 11-3-2 and unrated by the sanctioning body. Or by any of the other three major sanctioning bodies. But Mosqueda’s ninth-round technical knockout of Avendano on February 14 was apparently enough to move him higher in the WBO’s list of the top fighters at 112lbs.
In the WBO’s newest monthly ratings update, released on March 2, Mosqueda, now 15-0 (12 KOs), moved up into the No. 1 spot. The WBO flyweight titleholder is Anthony Olascuaga.
That wasn’t the only change at the top of the ratings.
Tobias Reyes, 18-1-1 (16 KOs), who had been No. 1 since September, dropped to No. 3, even though he went on to outpoint the 13-0-1 Pedro Alarcon (also unrated) in October.
And former WBA flyweight titleholder Seigo Yuri Akui, 22-3-1 (12 KOs), went from No. 3 to No. 2. Akui’s last fight was in December, when he made short work of the 10-1 Vencent Lacar (also unrated).
After Mosqueda, Akui and Reyes in the WBO’s flyweight ratings comes Kosuke Tomioka at No. 4. He is followed by Kyosuke Takami, Jukiya Iimura, Arvin Jhon Paciones, Angelino Cordova, Yuberjen Martinez, Atsuki Sano, Fillemon Nghutenanye, Angel Ayala, Julio Cabrera, Abraham R. Perez and Gerardo Zapata.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
